Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for May, 2007

Major League Baseball recently caught up with Fort Wayne native and current San Diego Padre, Rob Bowen. The former second-round pick (of the Minnesota Twins) talked about his daily preparation and, what it’s like to catch not one but two future Hall of Famers.

Among his career highlighs, Bowen suggests, “one of the biggest ones was catching Hoffy’s record-tying save last season. That was amazing. We were in the playoff hunt at the time and just to be a part of that was great.”

Read more at MLB.com.

The 2007 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft is coming up in a few weeks (June 7th). Jonathan Mayo offered his predicted top ten picks for MLB.com. Norwell’s Jarrod Parker shows up at number 7 as the first round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers.

That being said, they [the Brewers] have shown a fondness for power right-handed arms, regardless of size. Case in point: Jeremy Jeffress last year. This year it could be [Jarrod] Parker, who rose up the charts with his performance this spring as much as any player in the draft pool.

Parker has committed to play for Georgia Tech after his High School Career concludes. Says GT coach, Danny Hall on Parker: “Jarrod Parker is . . . one of the best pitchers in the country, period. He is a guy that we had seen this summer here at the Perfect Game tournament and as we followed him for most of the summer, he just kept getting better and better. He was on Team USA that played in Cuba and is a guy that would come right in here and pitch in our rotation as a freshman.”

He was also recently selected to play in the 2007 All-American Baseball Game on June 4 at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. No doubt, there will be many big league scouts in attendance for that one.

See Also:

• Jarrod Parker’s Draft Report
• Pitcher has an ace up his sleeve – By Aaron Organ (News Sentinel)

Photo by Linda Woodward/Journal Gazette (snagged from MinorLeagueBaseball.com).

[tags]MLB Draft, Jarrod Parker, Indiana Baseball, Fort Wayne Baseball[/tags]

In a Friday night Class-A California League game, the San Diego Padres’ affiliate, Lake Elsinore Storm, put on a record-setting performance by pounding Boston’s Lancaster Jethawks squad 30-0. Several former Fort Wayne Wizards contributed to the effort.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” said Lake Elsinore hitting coach Max Venable, who was a Major League Baseball outfielder from 1979-91 and former Wizards hitting coach. “I really can’t explain it,” he added. “The guys are still talking about it. I mean, we’re in awe.”

Chad Huffman and Craig Cooper each homered twice and Yordany Ramirez drove in seven runs. Huffman went 5-for-5, scored five runs and drove in five. Kyle Blanks, who scored six times, and Matt Antonelli each had six hits.

Huffman, Cooper, Blanks Antonelli all played in Fort Wayne last year while Ramirez appeared in 104 games with the Wizards in 2005.

Read More: SI.com | MinorLeagueBaseball.com | JetHawks Website

On a related note, former Wizard and current Lake Elsinore pitcher, Wade LeBlanc earned Cal League Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of April 16-22.

“Leblanc was selected by the Padres in the second round of the 2006 draft. He posted a 5-1 record and a 3.02 ERA in 14 games between Short-A Eugene and Single-A Fort Wayne in 2006. In 2007, the 6’3” lefty was recognized as having the best changeup in the San Diego Padres’ organization in Baseball America’s Best Tools Survey and is 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA through six starts with Lake Elsinore.”

[tags]Wizards, JetHawks, Minor Leauge Baseball, High-A, California League[/tags]

The Fort Wayne Wizards recently designed a new MySpace profile. Check it out for some great photos, event updates and more.

[tags]MySpace, Wizards, Fort Wayne Baseball[/tags]

This evening matched two former Chicago Cubs against each other as skippers of their respective single-A squads as the Peoria Chiefs made their first visit to the Castle in 2007. Show above, Hall of Famer, Ryne Sandberg (Peoria) and Doug Dascenzo (Fort Wayne) meet with the umpires at home plate before the start of the contest.

Dascenzo was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round of the 1985 amateur draft and played with them through 1992. He later played with Texas and San Diego, ending his playing days in 1996 after 7 big league seasons.

Ryne Sandberg was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 20th round of the 1978 amateur draft and made his big league debut on September 2, 1981 versus Atlanta. He took 6 at-bats for the Phillies before being traded to the Chicago Cubs along with Larry Bowa for Ivan DeJesus. Sandberg then went on to play with the Cubs for 15 seasons (taking off the 1995 season before coming out of retirement). His playing days ended in 1997 and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 – on the same day Cubs pitcher, Kerry Wood made a rehab start in Fort Wayne against the Wizards (as a member of the Lansing Lugnuts who were a Cubs affiliate at that time).

Sandberg will be leading the Chiefs tomorrow, Sunday and Monday. They are the only dates Peoria will visit Fort Wayne during the regular season – so make sure you take in a game this weekend or Monday!

Related: Sandberg educates a new generation

(Photo by Chad Gramling)

[tags]Ryne Sandberg, Doug Dascenzo, Hall of Fame, Peoria, Fort Wayne, Baseball, Kerry Wood[/tags]